Official word came Monday morning, but Sen. Herb Kohl got a bit ahead of himself in describing it last Friday: Today is a dark day for Janesville.

Employees were told that the local General Motors assembly plant will halt production of full-size sport utility vehicles Dec. 23.

We’ll always remember the day—Monday, the 13th.

As the first person to comment on the story on The Janesville Gazette Web site this morning wrote: “Merry Christmas.”

But Monday was no darker than June 3. That’s the day GM Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner announced that the Janesville plant would stop producing SUVs by 2010 and maybe sooner.

And it will be no darker than Dec. 23, when the line goes silent.

That will put about 1,150 hourly and 130 salaried employees out of work, along with hundreds more at local GM suppliers.

Speculation has swirled for weeks that production would end around the holidays. All you needed to do is pay attention to the global economy and credit crunch, plummeting sales of SUVs and plunging stock prices to realize those rumors likely had merit.

General Motors stock has taken more than its share of the hit. The stock lost nearly one-third of its value last Thursday alone and left the price at a level last seen nearly 60 years ago.

So Monday’s announcement was no surprise, but it was stunning nonetheless.

This GM plant, its quality products and strong workforce have a proud and storied history. The factory’s demise is tragic and will affect this community in ways we still can’t comprehend.

“The economy ran away from the product,” United Auto Workers Local 95 Shop Chairman John Dohner Jr. said. “This is the best product we’ve ever built, and it still is.”

It remains uncertain, of course, whether GM will maintain a presence in Janesville. A task force that Gov. Jim Doyle appointed in June has been working diligently on a proposal to keep GM here with a new product. The task force made its pitch to Detroit officials Sept. 12.

Instead of saying, “Thanks but no thanks,” or “We’ll get back to you,” GM officials promised further talks.

That offers a glimmer of hope.

On Sept. 30, Washington passed a $25 billion package that offers low-interest government loans to help U.S. automakers retool and build more fuel-efficient cars. That buoys those hopes for Janesville.

Yet the downward economic spiral is doing this community no favors. It does not leave us optimistic that the task force will succeed.

Chrysler and GM have been discussing a merger. Some analysts question whether the merger will benefit either corporation when both are losing money as fast as your 401(k). Any benefit, they speculate, could take years.

That likely would be too late for GM Janesville.

Monday was a dark day indeed.—THE JANESVILLE GAZETTE.

STATE RIGHT TO WATCH FOR VOTER FRAUD

Wisconsin, a swing state in a tight presidential election, should be poised to make a mark this year.

It shouldn’t, however, have its role in the 2008 election, which also includes U.S. House races and state Legislature contests, marred by allegations of voter registration fraud.

Unfortunately, several charges of election fraud have come up in recent weeks. They need to be dealt with swiftly and firmly.

In one of the more recent cases, 21-year-old Milwaukee resident Endalyn Adams was accused of submitting dozens of fake names and addresses as a registration worker. Adams was working for the Community Voters Project, one of two primary groups facing scrutiny. The Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now is also under scrutiny.

In the Adams case, it appears more like a young woman trying to keep her job than one party trying to influence votes. The complaint claims Adams “was required to obtain 15 (completed) voter registration forms a day” or she would lose her job, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

While the state Legislature passed a series of reforms that barred per-signature payments because it’s an incentive to submit false names, it’s clear more need to be done.

There is a bipartisan effort worth noting. Atty. Gen J.B. Van Hollen, a Republican, and Milwaukee County Dist. Atty. John Chisholm, a Democrat, recently created a fraud task force to review any complaints filed between now and Nov. 4.

Between five and seven prosecutors with the district attorney’s office will be assigned to investigators. About 15 Milwaukee police officers also will deal with any problems that may emerge on Election Day.

No other county is involved in the task force yet, but Van Hollen has said that his office will be ready to deal with reports of fraud elsewhere in Wisconsin.

Let’s hope people stay vigilant and registration workers do the job they were hired to do throughout our fair state. There is too much at stake this election for even the hint of dishonesty.—THE POST-CRESCENT, Appleton.

TIME FOR SEATBELT LAW CHANGE

Although Wisconsin has a mandatory seatbelt law, it does not have a “primary enforcement” law when it comes to seatbelt use. That is, officers can only issue tickets for not wearing a seatbelt if someone is stopped for another traffic violation—they can’t stop someone only on the suspicion of not wearing a seatbelt.

To date, Wisconsin has been reluctant to adopt primary enforcement because of fears the authority could be used in a discriminatory way to pull over people of color. That’s a legitimate concern.

However, it’s time for primary enforcement. Why? It will ultimately save lives. The state Department of Public Health estimates primary enforcement will likely encourage more people to buckle up—Wisconsin consistently ranks in the lowest 10 states in seatbelt use—and save as many as 73 lives each year as a result. The second reason? Money. The federal government is offering $15-$20 million in a one-time payment to states that adopt primary enforcement. With a tight budget coming up, that’s money the state can use.

Gov. Jim Doyle, who is a proponent of primary enforcement, should put it in his budget this year—with a proper check for racial profiling included. And if he doesn’t, the legislature should act.

As you comment, please be respectful of other commenters and other viewpoints. Our goal with article comments is to provide a space for civil, informative and constructive conversations. We reserve the right to remove any comment we deem to be defamatory, rude, insulting to others, hateful, off-topic or reckless to the community. See our full terms of use here.

More in News

A wintry mix is threatening to make the next few days interesting for Twin Cities drivers. The National Weather Service is predicting multiple rounds of light snow and freezing rain starting early Sunday morning and continuing through midday Tuesday. Clouds will settle in Sunday, bringing a 30 percent chance of snow before noon and a high near 39. By midnight,...

Hundreds of participants took the polar plunge Saturday at Prior Lake to raise money for the Special Olympics. The annual event, sponsored by Special Olympics Minnesota and local law enforcement, raised $158,179 towards programming and events for more than 8,200 special needs athletes statewide. The total was down from last year’s event that raised $192,258. The 568 participants that registered online raised...

Last month, a New Brighton commissioner wrote a letter to the editor of the New Brighton Bulletin questioning the motives of the former city council to change elections from odd years to even years. On Tuesday, the commissioner lost his volunteer position because of that letter. The council voted 3-2 to remove Ben Jones from the planning commission. Council members...

HALLOCK, Minn. — It was an improbable romance between strangers in a faraway place. Nathan Younggren was a 25-year-old farmer who raised wheat, soybeans and beef cattle with his family near Hallock. Victoria “Tori” Allen was a 28-year-old former ski bum and advertising rep who lived in Colorado. He played rock music in a cover band, and she was a...

State health officials say three more children have died of complications of the flu, bringing the number of Minnesota children who have died of influenza this season to four. The number of Minnesotans hospitalized with flu symptoms has topped 4,200. That’s the highest number since the Minnesota Department of Health began tracking flu hospitalizations in 2008. Preliminary figures released Thursday...